site.bta24,000 School Dropouts Have Returned Back to Education System in 2017 - Minister

109 POLITICS - EDUCATION MINISTER - SCHOOL DROPOUTS

24,000 School Dropouts
Have Returned Back to Education
System in 2017 - Minister


Varna, on the Black Sea, August 30 (BTA) - The Education Ministry has registered 24,000 school dropouts who have returned back to the education system, said Education and Science Minister Krassimir Vulchev here on Thursday, adding that it was established that another 8,000 children have moved abroad. He took part in a meeting with the heads of regional education directorates.

The Minister explained that members of the pedagogical staff across schools and kindergartens are generally the ones to rely on for returning children from vulnerable groups back to the educaiton system. Additional 25 million leva have been allocated to them.

Many schools have appointed education mediators to work with the families of the children who have dropped out of school, but that does not mean that all children are covered. Some 14,000 children were not found in order to be returned to the education system, while another 10,000 were found, but failed to return back to school despite the efforts. Vulchev said that the highest dropout rate is observed after the primary education level.

Commenting the shortage of teachers, the Minister said that an overall shortage on the labour market in all fields is expected in the upcoming decades. Those who enter the labour market will be two-thirds of those leaving it. The shortage of teachers is especially severe in the subjects of physics, mathematics, information technology and teaching assistants for children with special needs.

Renovations are carried out across over 900 schools, the Minister said, explaining that a little over 50 of them will not be ready for the school year's start. LI/MY

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